Offsetting device for sawmill-carriages.



E. A. HARRIS.

OFFSETTING DEVICE FOR SAWMILL CARRIAGES.

APPUCATION FILED JAN- 29,1916- 1,191,361, PMGMBGSEPY. 5,1916.

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E. A. HARRIS.

OFFSETTING DEVICE FOR SAWNHLL CARRIAGES.

APPLICATION HLED JAN- 29,1916. 1 197,367. Patented Sept. 5,1916.

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WITNESSES.

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EDWARD Aivios HARRIs', or WARREN,- ARKANSAS, AssIeNoR or THREE-EIGHTHS T0 RUPERT GRASBY, or WARREN, ARKANSAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

Application filed January 29, 1916. Serial No. 75,033.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Amos HAR- 111s, a citizen of'th'e United States, residing at lVai-ren, in the county of Bradley and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Off-setting Devices for Sawmill-Carmages of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved mechanism for ofi-settingthe log carriage from the saw when the carriage returns from the cutting operations, and the invention consists in the constructions, ar rangeinents, and combinations of parts herein described and claimed.

The principal object of my invention lies in the provision of an auton'ia tically controlled steam operated mechanism for odsetting the log carriage from the cutting saw in a saw-mill when the carriage returns after having carried the log against the saw to cut oil a' board. A I

Among other objects and advantages piesentwh'ich will bep'ointed out in the following s oecification, my invention includes a pawl'and ratchet device whichis so arranged as to operate when the time of 're versal of travel of the carriage occurs and erforn1 the off-setting function. i

v In the drawings which form apart of this application z-Figiue lis a plan view of the log carriage showing it in the position for conveying a log against the cutting saw, a part of the log being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2+2 of Fig. 1 showing thepositio'n of the' pawl and cam ratchet when the "carriage travels forwardly as in Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a detail section similar to Fig. 2' showing theactien of the cam-ratchet on the pawl when the carriage is at the point of reversiirg.= Fig. 4; is a detailsection showing the position of the parts after the carriage has freversed. Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the log cal riage returning from a cut, the log-and carriage being shown oif-setfrom "the saw. Fig. 6 is a cross section line 6 60f Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a cross section on line 7-7 of Fig. 1. p F ig. Sis atransverse' section on line 8'8 of Fig.- 7. Figs. '9. 10 and 11 are I cross sections lines. 9 lO Q" and 111-1res1 )ectively, of Fig. 7 showing the steam valve and steam port. Fig. 12 is a perspective View ofthe steam valve.

In the drawings, 1 represents a track rail which hasan inverted V-sh'ape bearing surface as shownin F ig.- 6" and spaced from the track 1 is another rail 2 which has a fiat bearing surface. VVheels 3, having suitabl'e V grooves are mounted on the track 1 while wheels at with flat bearing faces are mounted on the track 2. The wheels 3 and support the log carriage 5 and in order to do'this are mounted on axes 6 which are disposed at the opposite ends of the carriage 5 and on an axle 7 which is disposed centrall y of the carriage as shown in Fig.

1. The axles 6 and 7 are located in suit able bearings 8 whichare shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the bearings being mounted beneath the longitudinal sidebeams'of the carriage 5.

End timbers 9', join the ends of the side beams of the carriage 5 and form a rectangular frame of the carriage on which the log is placed and held in any suitable manner. The cutting saw 10 is preferably a bandsaw and is disposed near the edge of the carriage 5. The carriage 5 is moved forward along the tracks 1 and 2 so that the log a: may be engaged by the saw to cut offa plank e shown in Fig. 6. During the operation of cutting the plank. the carriage 5 islo'cated adjacent tothe wheels 4 as shown in Figs. 1 and 6 and is forced to remain in t-h'is position relative to the axles G and 7 by meansof the mechanism about to be described. After'the plank y is com pletely cut off the carriage 5 must return so tha -t'theflog may again be presented to the saw 10 and another plank cut off. In order to prevent' the log from engaging the saw 10 when the carriage makes its return trip, the carriage 5 is offset a distance of approximately five-eighthsof an'inch. For this purpose the axles 6 and 7 and the wheels- 3 and '4' are in a fixed transverse relation'ship with'the saw 10 but the carriage 5 is movable on the axles 6 and 7 with transverse relationship to the saw in order to accomplish the off-setting of the log from the saw. The V-shaped track 1 therefore is the gov'erliing'line which holds the ground wheels and their depending parts, in the correct lateral relationship with the saw 10.

The carriage 5 is held adjacent to the wheels 4 so that it may be in the proper position to perform the cutting of the plank by the pressure of steam against one head of a cylinder 11, one cylinder being located at each of the opposite ends of the carriage 5 where it is secured to the timbers 9.

The construction of the cylinders 11 and their co-acting parts is identical and therefore the description of one will suffice for both. The axle 6 passes through the cylinder 11, a sleeve 12, being disposed around the axle as shown in Fig. 7 in which the axle has rotary movement. The sleeve 12 is held from endwise movement'with respect to the axle 6 by a pair of clamps 13 which are moved up against the ends of the sleeve 12 and bolted into position. Located on a centrally disposed threaded portion of the sleeve 12 is a piston head 14, the piston head 14 and the sleeve 12 being immovable with relationship to the wheels 3 and 4 by the means described above. The cylinder 11 is however, movable with respect to the sleeve 12 and axle 6 and this movement of the cylinder 11 governs the position of the carriage 5 with respect to its relationship with the saw 10. As before stated, Figs. 1 and 6 show the carriage 5 moved near to the saw in order to effect the cutting of a plank from the log. In order to move and keep the carriage 5 into this position until the time for the reversal of the travel of the carriage, steam is admitted into the cylinder 11 as in dicated in Fig. 7. The pressure of the steam against the walls of its confinement forces the cylinder 11 to move over in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7 and since the carriage 5 is secured to the cylinder 11 (there being one cylinder at each end of the carriage) the carriage 5 is thus moved over into the position mentioned. The carriage 5 is held in this position by the pressure of the steam which is constant during the entire travel of the carriage in this direction, the pressure of the steam being about 80 pounds. The even cutting of the plank 3 is thus assured.

Steam is admitted to the cylinder 11 on the side indicated in Fig. 7, by a valve 15 which is located in the bore 26 of the valve chest 16. The valve 15 has a central bore 17 which does not extend the full length of the valve but stops slightly short of the far end and forms the support for the turning stem 18 which passes through a suitable stuffing box arranged in the head of the valve chest. The end of the stem 18 is square and receives the arm 19 by which the valve 15 is turned. The valve 15 is held in position within the bore of the chest 16, by a coupling 20 which has a nipple-like end which receives one end of a steam hose 21. The steam hose connects to a suitab s ce of steam Supply (not shown) and is made flexible so that it may follow the movements of the carriage 5 as it travels toward and from the saw 10.

The valve 15 is provided with steam ports 22 and 23 each of which is adapted to register with a co-acting steam passage 24 and 25 in the valve chest when the valve 15 is turned in a manner to be described. One end of each of the passages 24 and 25 must of course communicate with the bore 26 of the valve chest, while the other ends of the passages communicate with the bore of the cylinder 11 at opposite sides of the piston shown in Fig. 7, in which figure steam passes through the port 22 into the passage 24 with which it is now in registration, into the left end of the cylinder 11 and forces the cylinder 11 and the attached carriage 5 over as hereinbefore explained. Steam is exhausted from the other end of the cylinder 11 when the cylinder is moved over as in Fig. 7 through the passage 25. When the valve 15 was turned to admit steam into the left end of the cylinder 11, a branch 27 of the semi-annular exhaust passage 28 came into registration with the steam passage 25 and completed a pathway for the exhaust steam to the exhaust pipe 30 (see Fig. 10). Another branch 29 extends from the exhaust passage 28 but in an opposite direction from the branch 27. The openings in each of the heads of the cylinder 11 through which the sleeve 12 passes, are made steamtight by a suitable stufling box 31 as shown in Fig. 7.

It has been shown that the cylinder 11 and the carriage 5 has been moved by the turning of the valve 15 so as to bring the port 22 into registration with the passage 24 and permit the entrance of steam into the left side of the cylinder. The valve 15 was turned to this position at the moment when the carriage 5 was reversed in its travel along the tracks 1 and 2, to again move the log at toward the saw 10. The turning of the valve 15 is effected by shifting its attached arm 19 which is connected to a bar 32 of a pawl frame 33 by a connecting rod 34 (see Figs. 2 and 8).

The pawl frame 33 consists of a pair of arms 35 and 36, each of these being pivotally mounted on a rod 37 and 38 each of which has a suitable secure fastening in the beams of the carriage 5. The arms 35 and 36 are located at even distances on each side of the centrally disposed axle 7 and each of the respective arms 35 and 36 has a pawl 39 and 40 which extends toward the axle 7 and co5perates with co-acting cam-ratchets 41 and 42 respectively. Each of the camratchets is divided centrally so that it may readily be clamped to the axle 7 or removed therefrom, a suitable clamping collar 43 being formed on e cam-ratchet for this purpose.

1 ,ueegeev The peripheries (if the tem-retards 41 and 42 Y 'act as en the shaiiksf' of their co--acting" p2ih ls 39" 2ind 40 at a certain tiine. The periphe y (if "the "can? 41 is "provided with a phi'rality {or depressions of Which 4'4 is the-more'abrtpt side and forms a shoulder'which isadafitedto engage" a sho'uld'r4l5 of head f nhfe6l on theend ofthe paW139 and 61'1" tnanglesi'milarw that of the shouldef 44;. The pawl 39 is'p'i'essed into en ag'ement' with the 'caih 41- by" a spring 46 which is secured at one ehdt'o'the arm aaes'sllewn. The face of thej'c'ain 42 isprovided with a plurality er aepressiefis er which; 47 is the more -ahrupt side and ear-ms a shoulder which is ad zip ted to en aged shulder 48 Of a head on the other pawl 40 the 'shouldrs47 having an angle 6f inclination siinilar to'that of 'the sh'oi'ildef '4'8 and the shoulders 44 of the cam 41, it being noted, uewevemhat the shoulders '47 er the mm flare-disposed in opposite inc'lin atint o that of the shoulders 44 of the 41. This arrangement is for the obvious reason that l the pa'tvl's 39' and 40 are arranged athhposite'sides of the czinis 41 and 42 and the shoulders as'aho\re de sciibed *are so aihangedthzi't they may he engaged by them-wishoulders and 48 re spe'ct'ively at the periods of eversal of the carfiage'5 from its forwardtravel and vice versa. The-pawl 40 is pressed intoen'gagement with its co-aeting cam 42,-by a spring 49. The Valve 'niec hanisrn for the cylinder 11 at the left of Fig. 1,]is operated by a connecting rod in a similar manner to that in which the xf 'alve'm'ec'hanisinof the cylinder 11 the'rightof Fig. 1 and in Fig. 7, is operated. I

The ni'th'oclof o eration of thedevic eis as followsfi Thecafriage 5' is niovingjfor- Ward toward the saw was shown in Fig. 1, hid in eide'r to preseh't the logg'w' to, the saw in the prbpermailne'r to c'ut 01f a plan'lz, the carriage has been moved over fi om the' gove'ini'ng line rail Iadj'ac'ent to the 'saW '10 in the inanner previously desefihed. At this time the axle? and its earn-ea came 41 and 42 are rotating in the'di'rection of the arrow in Fig; 2. Asso'o'n asthe careiage 5*rea chs the end df its mev'emehttoward the saw and the plank iseolhple'tely cut from the lo w,

the air-teeth of the-movement time Elm riage must be iversed so as to" return the 10g for another' mating o eration. This reversal of the carriages eflete'd hyany' suitable inechanisln, not shown. It is 5t the moment of this reversal of'the carriage 5 that it is netessary "to ofl'setfthe leg and consequently the carriages so that when the carriage returns, the leg ab'will notrub a ainstsaw 10.

In Fig. B'the aXIe' 7 "issho'w'n as just beginningjto rotate in a" direetjion Opposite to thzi't in Fig.2,"this change in the 'ro't'ation beinghaused by there'versal of thetravel of the ca'r'ria'ge 5', In the-positien showmandreamed 47 of one of the depresshins-in theperi phei'y of the the 42' has just engaged -the shoultl'er' 48 of the twr 40 Which is pivoted on" the arm 36' of'the' pawl f'rame The shoulder 47 will now eau'se the pawI 40 and theta-m 361:0 move over in the direction orthemow in Fig; 3' and coin- Inence'to ur e the connecting rod 34 toward the l 'ight. lVlOVing the rod 34 its stated, will shift the l9 in the direction of the it!- row in Fi gL S and thu's-brin'g the poit 23 of the V 2i1 ie l5 into'registration With the steam passage 25'. Steam will new enter the I right side of the cylinder 11 in Fig. 7 and force the cylinder in a direction opposite to the time and since the eylin'dei 11 is secured to'the' carriage 5, it is obvious that the carriage Will become off-set from the saw 10 and allow the leg 00 to move back't'v'ardly Without touching the saw. The carriag is then in the positi'on shown in Fig. 5. The tufning of the valve 15 to move the port 23' in to"'1"egistration with the passage 25 also movedth orme out of registration With the port 24 but moved the branch 29 of the exhaust passage 28, into registration therewith. -A passage is now open for the exhaust-steam from the left side ofthe cylinder 11 150 pass through the ports 28 and 30 to the atmosphere. The continued movement of the axle 7 in the direction shown in Fig. '3 Will'ear'ry the cam-ratchet 42 to the pesition shown in-Fig. 4 inwhich the shoul der 47 has become disengaged from the shoulder 48 of the pawl 40" and the arm 36 has b'en'moved ever to its extreme left positionfth'e Valve 15of each cylinder 11- now being set to a position in which it remains until the carriage-5 reverses again. The periphery of'the disk 42 now acts as a cam which holdsthe pawl 48 from en aging the notches 47. Then the log carriage 5 reaches the end of its travel,= asindicated by the arrow in-Fig. 5, the carriage will. reverse again and at'thi's time, the shoulder 45 will become engaged by one of the notches 44 of the carnratch'et 41. The awl frame 33 Will again beshifted into the position shown in 2 and thus the Valve 15 will be rotated back to thepositi'on shown in Fig. 7. Steam beingthen} admitted tothe left side of the cylinder 11, will reset the log carriage into position I for another cut.

While I have illustrated and described the pi'e'feifed construction and arrangement of the device, oh'viously modifications and variations in the construction of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

1. Theeombin'a'tion With a saw mill carriage,of a cy'linde'r secured to the carriage, an axlepass'ihg through the cylinder and forminga supptrt for thecarria e, piston stationarily mounted on the axle and located within the cylinder, a valve mechanism associated with the cylinder, and means arranged on the carriage to operate the valve mechanism and admit steam into the cylinder at each side of the piston alternately and shift the carriage laterally on the axle.

2. The combination with a saw mill carriage, of a cylinder secured to the carriage, an axle passing through the cylinder and forming a support for the carriage, a sleeve secured on the axle and passing through the cylinder, a piston head mounted on the sleeve and located within the cylinder, a steam valve associated with the cylinder. adapted to admit steam into the cylinder at either side of the piston, means located on the carriage adapted to operate the valve, and opcrating connections between the said operating means and the valve.

3. The combination with a saw mill carriage, of a cylinder secured to the carriage at one end, an axle passing through the cylinder and forming a support for the car- I riage, a sleeve disposed on the axle and arranged to be held from endwise movement, a piston head mounted on the sleeve and disposed within the cylinder, a valve chest associated with the cylinder and having a bore and steam passages communicating with the bore and the cylinder at both sides of the piston, a valve located within the bore and having ports, a pawl frame located on the carriage and having connections with the valve for moving the valve and admit steam into the cylinder at either side of the piston, and a cam-ratchet for operating the pawl frame upon reversal of the carriage.

4. The combination with a saw mill carriage, of a cylinder secured to the carriage at one end, an axle passing through the cylinder and forming a support for the carriage, a piston head disposed within the cylinder and secured to the axle, a valve chest associated with the cylinder the chest having abore and passages communicating with the bore and with the cylinder at each side of the piston, a valve located in the bore the valve having ports and exhaust passages arranged in staggered relationship, a second axle located on the carriage, a pawl frame supported on the carriage and having connections with the valve, and a cam-ratchet mounted on the second axle adapted totoperate the pawl frame and shift the valve and bring one of the valve steam ports into registration with one of the steam passages upon reversal of the carriage.

5. The combination with the track rails; of a carriage arranged to move forwardly and backwardly thereover, an axle mounted at each end of the carriage, a centrally located axle mounted on the carriage, said axles having track wheels and forming supports for the carriage, a cylinder secured at each end of the carriage, the end axles passing therethrough, a piston head secured on each of the axles, and arranged within its respective cylinder, a valve chest associated with each cylinder, a valve located in each valve chest, notched disks mounted on the central axle, a pawl frame associated with the said disks, pawls arranged to engage the disks, connections arranged between the pawl frame and the aforesaid valves, said disks and pawls being adapted to operate the valves and admit steam to the cylinders to shift the carriage laterally at the start of its forward and backard movements.

6. In a saw mill carriage; the combination with the central and end axles supporting the carriage, of steam cylinders se'r cured at the ends of the carriage and through which the end axles pass, pistons fixedly mountedon the end axles and located within the cylinders, valve devices associated with the cylinders, a pair of camratchets having shoulders arranged in opposite angular relationship, supporting bars at each side of the central axle, a pawl frame mounted on the bars, pawls pivoted on the frame each engaging one of the cam-ratchets each of the pawls having a shoulder formed similarly to its coacting cam shoulder, means for holding the pawls in engagement with the cam-ratchets, and connections between the pawl frame and valve devices.

7. In a saw mill carriage; the combination with the central axle, of rods disposed at each side of the axle and in parallelism therewith, a pair of disks mounted side by side on the axle the disks having notches cut in their peripheries the shoulders of the notches of the companion disks being disposed in opposite angular inclination, a pawl frame supported by the rods, pawls fulcrumed on the frame each pawl engaging one of the disks, each pawl having a shoulder of corresponding angularity to the coacting notch shoulder, one of the notch shoulders of one of the disks being adapted to engage its co-acting pawl to pull the pawl frame over at the instant of reversal of rotation of the axle, and springs for holding the pawl in engagement with the disks.

8. In a saw mill carriage; the combination with the central axle, of rods disposed at each side of the axle, companion disks mounted side by side on the axle each of the disks having a plurality of notches in their peripheries the shoulders of the notches of the companion disks being incylinder, a connecting rod between the valve devices and the aforesaid pawl bar, one of the notches of one of the disks being adapted to engage its associated pawl to move the pawl bar and shift the valve devices.

9. In a saw mill carriage; the combination with the central axle, of rods disposed at each side of the axle, companion disks mounted side by side on the axle each of the disks having a plurality of notches in their peripheries the shoulders of the notches of th companion disks being inclined in opposite directions, an arm mounted on each rod, a pawl fulcrumed on each of the arms, each pawl having a similarly shaped shoulder which is adapted to engage one of the notches of its co-acting disk, a pawl bar joining the lower ends of the arms, a cylinder located at each end of the carriage, a valve device associated with each cylinder, a connecting rod between the valve devices and the aforesaid pawl bar one of the notches of one of the disks being adapted to engage its associated pawl to move the pawl bar and shift the valve devices, the said disk being arranged to act as a cam to throw the pawl into disengagement upon continued movement of the disk in the same direction.

EDWARD AMOS HARRIS.

Witnesses:

FRED T. PRUDEN, W. H. MCLEOD.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. O. 

